Aspirin

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT ASPIRIN - PAGE 4

By Lawrence K. Altman and Lawrence K. Altman,New York Times News Service | September 1, 1991

Doctors have long tried to find new uses for old drugs, and in this quest, centuries may pass before someone discovers hidden benefits in standard medications.Yet even when important new uses are found, it may be decades before the benefits are confirmed and widely recommended.A case in point is aspirin, which is one of the oldest and most commonly used drugs.In a new use documented only in recent years, aspirin is now recommended for millions of Americans who are at risk for the prevention and treatment of heart attacks and strokes.

Dear Dr. Solomon: My husband recently had his annual physical examination, and one of the things his doctor told him was to take an aspirin every day. Apparently, this can keep him from getting a heart attack. Since there has been heart disease in my family, I was very interested in this, and I'd like to know whether taking aspirin would also be good for women. -- Mrs. N.D., Dover, Del.Dear Mrs. D.: First let me caution you about taking any medication over an extended period of time without first consulting a physician.

NEW YORK - Women who took aspirin and vitamin E in separate studies of cancer and heart disease prevention experienced no benefits, while a third analysis revealed that aspirin might lower the risk of prostate cancer in men, researchers will report today. In the scientific papers published in two journals, a key theme, on first blush, seems to be aspirin's stark differences between the genders. But scientists downplayed that difference yesterday and underscored that much remains to be learned about cancer prevention - and aspirin dosage.

By Jonathan Bor and Jonathan Bor,Sources include Bobbie Brown, Pharm.D., at University of Maryland Drug Information Center at the School of Pharmacy and "Best Medicine" (by Joe Graedon & Theresa Graedon | December 6, 1991

Ever since an 18th century English clergyman discovered that eating willow bark was a good way to reduce fevers, people have depended on aspirin -- the drugstore descendant of that home remedy -- to relieve the temperatures and assorted pains that ail them.But recent revelations that aspirin carries previously hidden powers against heart attacks, stroke and migraines and possibly colon cancer have caused many consumers to ask whether this seemingly innocent pill may rightly be called a wonder drug.

A study that analyzed data from five earlier clinical trials confirms that aspirin, a staple in the medical arsenal for patients who have suffered a heart attack, can also slash by one-third the risk of a first heart attack in apparently healthy people. Published in the current issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, the study suggests aspirin is underused as a primary preventive therapy. More than 150,000 heart attacks a year could be prevented with more widespread use of aspirin, it said.

Now that health concerns have been raised about newer anti-inflammatory drugs like Vioxx, Celebrex and Bextra, some Americans may be taking another look at one of the few medicines that have been around since the Victorian era. That would, of course, be aspirin. According to some estimates, a trillion tablets have been taken in its long history. Aspirin is effective, relatively safe and costs as little as a penny a tablet. So what's not to like? "We medically know it's as good an anti-inflammatory as any other," says Dr. Alan Kimmel, a Towson internist.

Low doses of aspirin can reduce stroke risk among healthy, middle-age women, according to a study released yesterday that for the first time takes a large-scale look at ways to prevent cardiovascular problems in women rather than men. "The study is very significant," said Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health. "It has major public health implications." The Women's Health Study found that aspirin seems to have different benefits for men and women.

A new study suggests that low doses of aspirin may help prevent heart attacks in women at risk for cardiovascular disease, challenging the theory that aspirin helps men's hearts more than women's. "Women are clearly benefiting from taking aspirin and should continue to take it to improve their cardiovascular health," said Diane Becker, the study's lead author and a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The report appears in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Seventy-eight-year-old Joseph Dollard golfs several times a week. He supplements that with swimming, gardening and long walks. You would not guess from his lean physique and bright eyes that he had a heart attack at age 34, or that he's been taking a daily dose of pills ever since to avoid another. Among them was a 325 milligram aspirin pill, prescribed by a cardiologist 40 years ago and continued by Dollard's current cardiologist, Dr. Paul Gurbel of Sinai Hospital. But the results of a recent study by Gurbel and his team at Sinai's Center for Thrombosis Research indicate Dollard may be better off taking half that much.

Aspirin, now more than 150 years old, is still producing surprises, say doctors who in one study find it as good as a more expensive drug in preventing "mini-strokes." Just four tablets taken daily better protects people from the minor strokes known as intracranial arterial stenosis than does the more potent warfarin, say a team of researchers reporting in today's New England Journal of Medicine. Scientists from throughout the country, including a team at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, said if all U.S. doctors switched to regular strength aspirin for patients at elevated risk, there would be a savings of more than $20 million a year.